Assemblability analysis with adjusting cost evaluation based on tolerance and adjustability

Tolerances affect the assemblability of a product, which in turn affects the cost of the product because of the scrap cost, and wasted time and energy. In this paper, we propose a method to analyze the product in terms of assemblability based on tolerances and adjustability of the parts. More specifically, the product is considered assembled if the real parts can be fit regardless of the deviations the real parts may have from their nominal, because some parts can be adjusted in position after it is assembled due to clearances between the parts. Moreover, there is a cost associated with adjusting the parts because of the adjusting time, fixturing costs, and additional operations. A method is proposed to evaluated the adjusting cost by counting the minimum number of parts that must be moved or adjusted in order to complete the assembly.